ContributedA commercial-scale Gamesa wind turbine electric generator is shown in this handout photo. The company recently began involvement in its first Michigan wind farm. Gamesa also is looking at potentially constructing a wind farm in Muskegon County.

MANISTIQUE – Gamesa Energy, the international wind-energy company considering construction of a wind farm in Muskegon County, is beginning involvement in its first Michigan project in the Upper Peninsula.

A Spain-based wind-farm developer and turbine manufacturer, Gamesa and its U.S. operations announced Thursday that construction is under way on the Garden Wind Farm in Garden Township, which is located southwest of Manistique and along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

The U.P. wind farm is scheduled to be completed and online by September. Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy are set to purchase the power generated.

Gamesa USA is in the process of potentially executing a lease agreement with Muskegon County to investigate the possible construction of commercial-sized wind turbines on the county’s 11,000-acre wastewater site. The signing of the lease agreement by the private development team has been delayed, county officials have said, as a separate partnership agreement between Gamesa and Scandia Wind is still being developed.

The lease agreement, once signed, would give Muskegon Wind, led by Gamesa, exclusive rights to research and investigate the suitability for constructing a wind farm on the wastewater site in eastern Muskegon County. In exchange for exclusivity, the development team would pay thousands of dollars annually to the county.

The Chronicle is still developing this story. Check back for additional updates on mlive.com/Muskegon.